$10,000
in 1925 →
$144,443.43
in 2019

Inflation Calculator

U.S. Inflation Rate, $10,000 in 1925 to 2019

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, prices in 2019 are
1,344.43% higher than
average prices throughout 1925.
The dollar experienced an average inflation rate of 2.88% per year during this period.

In other words, $10,000 in 1925 is equivalent in purchasing power to $144,443.43 in 2019, a difference of $134,443.43 over 94 years.

The 1925 inflation rate was 2.34%. The current inflation rate (2018 to 2019) is now 1.52%1. If this number holds, $10,000 today will be equivalent to $10,152.01 next year.
The current inflation rate page gives more detail on the latest official inflation rates.

San Francisco, California experienced the highest rate of inflation during the 94 years between 1925 and 2019 (3.20%).

Detroit, Michigan experienced the lowest rate of inflation during the 94 years between 1925 and 2019 (2.75%).

Note that some locations showing 0% inflation may have not yet reported latest data.

Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £10,000.00 in 1925 would be equivalent to £602,915.07 in 2019, an absolute change of £592,915.07 and a cumulative change of 5,929.15%.

In Canada, CA$10,000.00 in 1925 would be equivalent to CA$143,440.86 in 2019, an absolute change of CA$133,440.86 and a cumulative change of 1,334.41%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $134,443.43 and total percent change of 1,344.43%.

Inflation by Spending Category

CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1925 and 2019.

$10,000 in 1925 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $144,443.43 in 2019.

To get the total inflation rate for the 94 years between 1925 and 2019, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2019 - CPI in 1925CPI in 1925

×

100

=

Cumulative inflation rate (94 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

252.776 - 17.517.5

×

100

=

1,344%

Comparison to S&P 500 Index

The average inflation rate of 2.88% has a compounding effect between 1925 and 2019. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of 1,344.43% over 94 years.

To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $10,000 in the S&P 500 index in 1925, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $92,205,630.49 in 2019. This is a return on investment of 921,956.30%, with an absolute return of $92,195,630.49.

These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.

The compounding effect of inflation would account for 93.08% of returns ($85,812,811.18) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $10,000 investment is $6,382,819.31.

Investment in S&P 500 Index, 1925-2019

Original Amount

Final Amount

Change

Nominal

$10,000

$92,205,630.49

921,956.30%

RealInflation Adjusted

$10,000

$6,382,819.31

63,828.19%

News headlines from 1925

Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:

Mein Kampf is published by Adolf Hitler.

The Ku Klux Klan's first national march takes place in Washington.

The last Qajar Shah of Iran is deposed with Reza Shah Pahlavi taking over.

Data Source & Citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics'
Consumer Price Index
(CPI), established in 1913. Inflation data from 1665 to
1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science
professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page:
“$10,000 in 1925 → 2019 | Inflation Calculator.” U.S. Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 21 Mar. 2019, https://www.officialdata.org/1925-dollars?amount=10000.